


Knocked up … again

by Fletcher



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kid Fic, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 05:09:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/770326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fletcher/pseuds/Fletcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His father had always warned him that shit happens when you get drunk. Still, Arthur really hadn't expected to get some random dude pregnant at a frat party. Now, Arthur and Merlin are good friends and the proud parents of five-year-old Oliver and it seems all’s well that ends well. But then there is a very drunk wedding and shit happens … again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knocked up … again

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: mpreg (not graphic at all), cute kids and an annoying Lance.  
> Oh, and English is not my first language.

“Monster! Monster! Monster!” The woman in Arthur’s bed seemed very confused by this very sudden monster invasion.

“I’m sorry,” he explained quickly, “that’s my son, he stays with me over the weekend. But since it’s only noon, there must be something wrong. Do you mind leaving through the second door? I’m sorry to be such an asshole.”

“No problem,” the woman said, while quickly putting on her clothes. “I have joint custody with my ex-husband, I know the drill.” She gave him a quick smile when she opened the door and whispered, “Good luck, he sounds like quite a handful. Oh, and look me up if you’re ever at the Northwood Bar again.”

She was right about one thing, Oliver was quite the handful. Arthur jumped into his jeans and went into to the living room. Giving Merlin a key had its disadvantages, like surprise attacks as these.

“Dad, finally, if you really had monsters, you would be dead right now and we haven’t even been to Disneyland yet.” Oliver jumped quickly into his arms and Arthur gave him a warm hug. “Son, you know this apartment is completely monster free. We double-checked that last week and you even put up your monster alarm.”

“You can never be safe enough, I put up two monster alarms at daddy’s house and Cendred still managed to come in.”

“Oliver,” Merlin shouted and gave him a stern look, “Cendred is not a monster. We have discussed this before, you can’t call people you don’t like monsters, and especially not to their face.” Merlin looked at Arthur and said, “It was a very short visit.”

“I’m sorry, daddy.” Oliver gave the necessary puppy look but Arthur knew that if he ever saw Cendred again, he would be launching into another monster tirade. His son was a good judge of character, Cendred was an asshole.

“So, Merlin, what are you doing here this early? I thought you’d be here at four.”

“Yeah, I know, but I really had no choice. I have to visit a couple of Gwen’s patients. She felt ill this morning and went home. So, I can’t look after him this afternoon as usual.”

“Ah, the irony of the doctor getting sick. Luckily, I am independent and at your service.”

“Thanks Arthur, I really appreciate it. He hasn’t had lunch yet, and please feed him some tomatoes this weekend. Be nice to your dad, Oliver, and don’t paint anything.”

Oliver climbed out of Arthur’s arms and jumped into Merlin’s. “Bye daddy, I promise I will eat tomatoes and I won’t paint any walls this time.” He gave him a big hug and then Merlin left and winked at Arthur. “Good luck!”

As soon as Merlin left, Oliver looked up at Arthur and said: “Do you have some carrots, Dad? Tomatoes are gross.”

Once Oliver was fed and busy playing with the Wii, Arthur was grateful that he finished his work before he went to the bar last night. It was impossible to do some actual work when Oliver was around.

“So, do you want to go the movies later? Or do something else?”

Oliver looked up from the Wii and answered, “No, I want to stay here. Could we paint my room? A white wall is so boring.”

“Well, that isn’t exactly my fault. You’re the one who threw an entire paint pot against it. And besides, didn’t you promise your daddy that you weren’t going to paint this weekend?”

“I promised daddy that I wouldn’t paint anything. I never said anything about you and me, together. Grandpa told me that you always have to very careful when you promise something,” he said proudly.

“Please don’t take any advice from your grandfather. You don’t want to become a boring businessman like him, right?”

“Of course not, I’m going to work in the circus! Or maybe become an artist like you!”

“Well, whatever you do, don’t tell your daddy that I let you loose on that wall again.”

*

The rest of the day was uneventful and they had even managed to paint Oliver’s wall in orange. Apparently, Oliver’s new favorite color since all his fruits and vegetables had to be orange as well. Arthur had made no progress on the tomato front. Even his bedtime story had to feature an orange. But since his boy was in dreamland, Arthur decided to settle in and start watching a DVD. He was startled when someone knocked on the door. The only person who visited him on a Friday night was Morgana, and Arthur really wasn’t in the mood to listen to her complaints about their father. She had made her choice when she chose to work for a tyrant, so she should suffer the consequences.

But when he opened the door, he was surprised to see Merlin looking back at him.

“Arthur, can I come in? I know I have a key, but I thought it would be polite to knock.”

Merlin looked upset, and not anything like his usual cheery self, Arthur was starting to get a bit worried.

“Please, come in and sit down. Um, Oliver is sleeping in his room. Is everything alright?”

“Actually, it’s not. I’m sorry to intrude but I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow. I needed to talk to you.”

“Okay, Merlin, you really are starting to worry me. Just tell me, okay.”

Merlin looked pale but started to open up. “Well, it actually started this morning. I’ve already told you that Gwen was sick, so I had to visit her patients. When she came back this afternoon, she told me she thought she was pregnant. But she was scared to do a test, since she and Lance just got married and she was anxious that it was way too soon.”

“Yes, Merlin, I was at the wedding. But I really don’t understand why you’re so upset about Gwen’s pregnancy.”

“I’m not upset about Gwen’s pregnancy, I’m upset about my pregnancy.”

Now,  Arthur was starting to look pale.

Merlin looked concerned but stammered on, “You see, to make her more comfortable I suggested to take a test together. But then it turned out that she wasn’t pregnant, but I was.” 

“So, you’re pregnant. Have you told the father already?” Secretly, Arthur wanted to punch Cendred in the face for accomplishing his greatest fear, Merlin starting a new family without Arthur.

“Um, Arthur, I just did. You’re the father, clotpole.”

There were a lot of emotions running through Arthur’s body at these words: shock, confusion, but the most important one was surprisingly relief.

“You do remember fucking me through the mattress at Gwen and Lance’s wedding?”

Arthur actually had to laugh a bit at that. “Yes, I remember very well. Best fuck I had this year.”

There was a slight blush on Merlin’s cheeks. “Well gee, thanks for the impromptu evaluation. But yeah, that’s when it happened. So, I’m about two months along. And no, Cendred has nothing to do with this, the last time we slept together was over six months ago. Plus, he was a prick.”

Arthur couldn’t resist showing a smug grin. “That I knew. But, what are we going to do now, with our baby?”

“I honestly don’t know. This is all so overwhelming, I just can’t believe I accidentally got knocked up _again_. The one thing that I’m sure of is that I am never drinking again. Well, at least not when you’re around with your super sperm. And about the baby, I don’t know. By the time I found out that I was pregnant the last time, it was too late to do anything. But now… I’m only two months pregnant, I could still have a procedure if that’s we want.”

“Ultimately, it has to be your decision, Merlin, and I don’t want to pressure to you, but …  
I honestly don’t want an abortion. But, it’s your call. You’re right, you didn’t have a choice last time, so maybe you should think about this for a while.”

“When I got pregnant with Oliver, I had just started working in the hospital and you were still going to college. Now, I’ve started my own practice and you’re still busy establishing yourself in the art circuit. We really lack a sense of timing,” Merlin said while covering his face with his hands.

Arthur took Merlin’s hands in his own and said, “I’m not a 20-year-old student any more. I have a career, my own apartment. And your practice may not be running that very long, but you do share your responsibilities with Gwen and Elena. The situation may not be ideal, but we aren’t the same people we were 5 years ago. Although, I think that those people did the best they could. And with great results, or do I have to remind you of the lovely little boy we have?”

“It’s just that I’ve always assumed that when I had another kid, I would be married and settled. Not 32 and single. And I certainly didn’t think we would be having another kid.”

Arthur was silent for a moment and drummed up the courage to say, “Maybe we could have a family together. You, me, Oliver and this baby.”

Merlin looked him in the eyes and asked softly, “Is that what you want?”

“Yes, because Merlin, the only person I ever wanted a family with is you.”

Merlin looked absolutely blown away by this revelation. “Wow, I didn’t expect this. But, I just don’t think we should get married or live together because it’s convenient for the kids. We both grew up with single parents, so we don’t have this idealized version of a proper family. Perhaps, we should take this one step at a time. I mean, we’ve never really had a relationship, just a series of one night stands. First, we have to be sure that we want this baby and then we can start worrying about what this means for us. And if we really want a relationship.” Merlin got out of the couch, gave Arthur a quick kiss on the cheek and said, “But for what it’s worth, you’re the only man I want to be the father of my children.” And on that note he left Arthur with a lot to think about.

*

Two weeks and a lot of serious conversations later, Merlin and Arthur had made one of the most important decisions of their life and had decided to keep the baby. Now, they just had to sort out how exactly they were going to do this. It took them a lot of soul searching to admit to each other that they did want to be together, not just as parents but as partners.

They had also decided to break the news to Ollie first, before they dealt with the shitstorm of telling their friends and families. Arthur was not looking forward to those conversations. Especially not Morgana’s smug bitchface.

Oliver was staying with Merlin this weekend, and so was Arthur. But now that Oliver was looking at them with his big, blue eyes waiting for the big news, he was starting to feel nervous.

“I wanna know the big news! Are we finally going to Disneyland?,” Ollie almost shouted.

Merlin and Arthur looked at each other and Merlin took the lead. “I’m sorry sweetheart, we’re not going to Disneyland just yet.”

Oliver’s little shoulders immediately dropped with disappointment but Merlin continued, “But you are going to be a big brother. I’m pregnant, Ollie.”

“Oh my god, Robbie is going to be so jealous that I have a little brother and he has three  sisters. Because only boys can join the monster army.”

Arthur was amused that his son’s first thought at the news was new recruitment for his monster patrol. “Well, we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. But if you do have a little sister, maybe you could consider letting her join the monster patrol anyway. I’ve heard that monsters are really scared of little girls.”

Oliver’s seemed to be thinking really hard about this. “I think my sister would be cool enough to be in the monster army. Aunt Morgana says that Pendragons can do anything!”

Merlin mumbled to Arthur, “Your family really has to stop giving advice to our son.” 

 

*

Because Merlin’s mom lived a couple hours away from Camelot, they decided to invite her over the next weekend so they could have a joint dinner with Arthur’s family. Of course, Morgana was very suspicious about this dinner and had immediately concluded that Arthur and Merlin were about to announce their engagement. Arthur had to physically restrain her from calling a wedding planner. She spent the rest of the week sneaking glances at him and trying to read his messages. Arthur called Merlin to make sure that she didn’t try to interrogate Ollie. Then it was finally Friday and Arthur was gathered around the Pendragon dining table with his father, Morgana, Merlin, Oliver and Hunith, who like Morgana seemed very curious about the reason for this visit.

“Arthur, are you finally going to spill the beans now? I don’t know if you have any idea of how long it takes to plan a wedding, but I’m going to need at least six months. And all the good venues are probably gone at this stage.”

“For the love of God, Morgana, Merlin and I are not getting married. So you better start cancelling everything you booked right now.”

Uther looked at his children exasperatedly and said, “Arthur, Morgana, be quiet. I think it’s better that Merlin does the talking right now. You two are incapable of making sense around each other.”

Merlin swallowed, looked up at the table and finally said, “Well, we did call all of you here tonight to tell you something important. And I’m sorry, Morgana, we’re definitely not getting married, but we are … you see, I’m pregnant. With Arthur’s baby, and we’re going to try to be a family from now on.”

Whatever their families had expected, it was clearly not this announcement. Morgana’s mouth was hanging open, Uther looked plain shocked and Hunith was seemingly in trance. Uther was the first to put himself back together and said, “Well boys, this is great news. I’m very pleased to become a grandfather again. Maybe, it will be a girl this time.”

“I hope not,” Oliver chimed in. “I really want a big brother.” That seemed to snap some sense back into Morgana. “Ollie, how dare you say that! Girls are awesome and so are Pendragrons, so a combination of the two is like double awesome.”

Oliver grinned back at her. It seemed that their son was good at defusing the tension, because Hunith finally started talking again.

“Of course, I’m also very pleased to become a grandmother again. We all love Ollie”, she said while ruffling his hair a bit, “but, Merlin, are you absolutely sure about this? I mean about this whole family thing.”

Merlin seemed to be annoyed at his mother’s questioning. “Mom, Arthur and I have decided to be a real family with our kids and frankly we couldn’t be happier about our decision.”

“Daddy and I are going to move in dad’s apartment and then they are going to buy a big house for me and my brother and our dog,” Oliver told his family with great pride.

“Ollie, we never said anything about a dog,” Arthur told him.

“But dad, every family has a dog. It’s like on tv,” Oliver said with great conviction.

 

*

 

Arthur and Merlin wanted to make the transition as seamless as possible for Ollie, so they decided that Merlin and Ollie would move in during the week and spend the weekend at Merlin’s house. Meanwhile, Merlin could end his rental agreement and start moving their things and it also gave them a chance to adjust to living together as a couple. Ollie loved living with both his parents, he basked in the attention.

Once Merlin had passed the crucial three months mark, they had to take their ‘I’m pregnant’ tour to its last destination: their friends. Arthur would never admit this to a living soul, but he was really looking forward to seeing Lance’s face when he heard the news.

Since they had Ollie, their own respective group of friends tended to overlap, despite the seven year age difference between them. Most of Merlin’s friends were doctors and most of Arthur’s friends were … creative. The fact that Gwaine was his best friend, probably revealed a lot about Arthur to any amateur psychologist. But he was sure about one thing, all his friends were loyal.

Arthur loved all of Merlin’s friends: Elena, Will (even if he was permanently angry), Gwen. But he hated Lance, because if Arthur hadn’t managed to knock up Merlin five years ago, Merlin and Lance would be married right now. Arthur wasn’t the only one who seemed convinced of this, Lance apparently agreed as well. Because, every time it had seemed that Merlin and Arthur were getting closer to becoming something more than friends, Lance was there. Conveniently being dumped by his current boyfriend or girlfriend, and in need of comfort from his best friend. He just could not let Merlin go. Even if his second child wasn’t conceived there, Gwen and Lance’s wedding would always be one of the best moments of his life.

Arthur would always love Gwen because she was the one person who finally seemed to be able to break the cycle. She even managed to get Lance to marry her after only dating for eight months. Arthur purchased the most lavish gift he could find on their list. And since Morgana planned their wedding, there was a lot of alcohol present.

*

After they dropped off Oliver with the most enthusiastic babysitter in the world, Uther, they went to ‘The Dragon’, their favorite pub. They had managed to gather all of their friends there, which was a miracle in itself. Except for Morgana, who was on a business trip to Tokyo right now, not that Arthur minded.

Arthur didn’t hesitate this time and announced, “Guys, we have big news. Like life changing news.”

“Are you finally going to make an honest man out of our dear Merlin?,” Gwaine asked while sipping his beer.

“Why are all our friends so obsessed with marriage?,” Merlin answered.

Leon tried to get them back on track, “So, what is the big news?”

Arthur and Merlin grinned at each other and this time, Arthur took the lead.

“Merlin and I are having a baby and we are going to do things properly this time. Merlin and Ollie are moving in with me.”

Their friends seemed to have a much faster reaction time than their families, because Merlin and Arthur immediately received a lot of hugs and congratulations. Well, Arthur noticed that there was one notable exception and couldn’t help but give himself a mental high five.

Elena even seemed to have tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you guys! Oliver is such an amazing kid and you two are amazing parents. Gosh, this is going to be wonderful.”

“It’s weird that you’re not better at football, since with Merlin you manage to score every time you shoot.” Merlin hit Gwaine’s head for that, hard.

“And don’t even think about hitting me back, you’re not allowed to hit someone who’s pregnant,” Merlin told him.

“I would never hurt you, Merlin,” Gwaine replied, “I’m a gentleman.”

“Does that mean I won’t have to carry you home tonight because you passed out again?,” Percy asked.

“A gentleman makes no promises he can’t keep. And now, let’s all raise our glasses for the Pendragon-Emrys family, may they live long and pretty!”

Everyone raised their glasses and Will yelled for the entire pub, “Congratulations, you boring motherfuckers!”

The rest of the evening was filled with jokes about being domesticated. Gwaine and Will seemed to inspire each other as usual. But all of their friends were still happily single, except for Gwen and Lance. Lance had eventually congratulated Merlin and Arthur, but even Gwen seemed a bit suspicious of his lack of enthusiasm. Arthur couldn’t help but wonder if she knew that Lance was still in love with Merlin. Maybe, Lance himself didn’t even really know.

It was obvious that Merlin had no suspicions at all. He seemed to enjoy himself a lot. It was fortunate that he seemed to have very few pregnancy symptoms this time. He had no morning sickness, something he had suffered from terribly last time. His stomach was still as flat as always, but Merlin always seemed to be as thin as a rail. Pregnant or not. Meanwhile, Arthur went to the gym two times a week. At the end of the evening, Merlin and Arthur received a last group hug which Gwaine even managed to stand up for.

*

But their friends were right, domesticated life was an adjustment. Normally, Arthur worked during the week, but his art took a backseat now that Oliver was there every evening. Arthur did miss painting late at night, with some loud indie rock as his companion.

Of course, living with Merlin also had many advantages, like curling up with him in bed at night. It was nice not to sleep alone, even if all they did was sleep for now. Actually, everything about being with Merlin and Oliver was nice to Arthur. Just being part of a normal family, was something he enjoyed more than he would have ever thought.

He already had gained a new appreciation for his father, after becoming one himself. Raising two demanding kids like Morgana and Arthur by himself couldn’t have been easy. Uther may not have been the most loving father in the world, but he was always there for them even when he was busy running a billion dollar corporation. Arthur figured that if Uther had managed to combine running Pendragon Industries and raising two kids, he could do the same thing with his art.

*

As usual, life was quick to remind Arthur that things were never that easy. Because, like clockwork, Lance was there one evening to cry on Merlin’s shoulder. Apparently, Gwen had told him that she was the one who originally thought she was pregnant and now Lance was angsting about babies.

When Lance had come in, Arthur had taken Oliver to his room but he didn’t close the door entirely so he could listen to their conversation. Which was probably completely paranoid but Arthur couldn’t help himself. Even if he didn’t consider Lance as the cheating type and he certainly didn’t think Merlin would ever do that, he could never think rationally when it came to Lance.

The fact was that when Merlin had told Lance about his unexpected pregnancy, Lance had declared his love and proposed to raise the baby together, without Arthur. Arthur would never forgive him for that. Even if they were still complete strangers at the time, Arthur would have never walked away from his own kid and let him be raised by another man.

 

He looked at Oliver cheerfully playing with his monsters to calm himself down a little. Of course that’s exactly when he heard Lancelot say, “I just don’t know if Gwen and I are the right people to raise a child. I just don’t know if we could share that connection.”

Right, that was it. Arthur told Ollie that he was allowed to use his headphones to listen to loud music on daddy’s iPod. Ollie was very excited about this and put on the huge headphones. Arthur selected Ollie’s playlist and then went back inside the living room where he could see Lance sitting very close to Merlin.

“Lance, I need to talk to you right now.”

Merlin seemed completely surprised by Arthur’s sudden entrance.

“Arthur, we were having a private conversation. You can’t just barge in, even if this is your own house.”

“This is our house now, Merlin. Because we are a family, do you understand that, Lance? As of now, Merlin, the kids and I are going to be a proper family. And there is no place on our Christmas cards for you.”

“Arthur,” Merlin snapped, “what the fuck are you saying! Have you gone completely insane? If Lance had an urge to start printing Christmas cards, I thinks he would want to be on them with his own wife. Right, Lance?”

Lance didn’t seem to hear Merlin, and looked at Arthur as if he saw him for the very first time. And that is how Arthur knew that for Lance, Arthur had always been a temporary thing, and he finally realized that Arthur was something permanent.

“I apologize, Arthur. You’re right. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to talk with my wife about this, instead of bothering my best friend.”

“Honestly, Lance, you are not bothering me. Being pregnant doesn’t mean that I can’t be there for my friends when they need me.”

“Yes, but maybe I need you a bit too much. I have to go home, Gwen is probably wondering where I am.” And he left without saying another word.

Arthur looked at Merlin. “I am sorry, Merlin. I didn’t say that because I suddenly want to become some controlling husband. And I love what an amazing friend you are, but there are boundaries to every friendship.”

“Lance was never good with boundaries. He is a great guy and an amazing doctor but I don’t know if he’s a very good friend.” Merlin’s answer took Arthur by surprise. He had really expected Merlin to start yelling at him. “But the thing is Arthur, that I did make a choice. I chose you, not Lance. So if he has to respect that choice, so do you. I don’t want you to check in on my conversations with my friends, this will only ever work if you can trust me. “

“I love you, Merlin. And I do trust you but I don’t know. I guess something just finally snapped.”

“Well, I never expected you to be perfect. You already have the blond hair and the perfect chest, an amazing personality would have been too much,” Merlin joked.

“And if we are being completely honest, I am not exactly jumping with excitement every time you have a completely drunk Gwaine hanging all over you. I’m not the only one who has a past with their best friend.”

“I love Gwaine, but you really have nothing to worry about there. Gwaine loves experimenting, but he also really loves girls. In fact, I’ve been having a certain vibe about Morgana and him.”

“Arthur, I love them both but we can’t let that happen. The two of them together … it scares me.”

And after that, they couldn’t stop giggling.

*

 

The next few months of Merlin’s pregnancy seemed to go by very quick. Arthur’s sex life had also greatly improved and just like Arthur had always suspected, they just fit together.  
Like they were two sides of the same coin or something equally cheesy. Oliver might have connected them, but even without him, Arthur thinks they would have found their way to each other eventually.

The only downside seemed to be that Morgana and Gwaine really did find each other. In fact, Merlin and Arthur seemed to be an inspiration for their friends. Elena and Percy had started dating and Leon was dating Elyan, Gwen’s brother. It seemed like everyone was growing up.

*

However, Oliver’s birthday was a great excuse to act like kids again. Like usual, they celebrated his birthday at the Pendragon mansion. Merlin organized a huge scavenger hunt and all the supposed adults participated with great joy. Oliver never stopped smiling and Arthur was starting to wonder how he would adjust sharing the spotlight with a sibling. Even Merlin said that Ollie was a true Pendragon, with his flair for the dramatic.

Secretly, Arthur hoped that their baby would be an mini version of Merlin. With lots of black hair and Merlin’s sunny personality. And unlike their parents, no daddy issues.

*

Merlin was already eight months pregnant when they moved into their big, new house. Morgana had decided that if she couldn’t organize their wedding, she was determined to decide where her niece and nephew were going to grow up.

Arthur would rather break his arm then agree with anything that Morgana had decided, but you just can’t say no to your pregnant boyfriend. Especially when he had Merlin’s bambi eyes.  

That is how Merlin and Arthur started living only two streets away from Morgana. Or like, Arthur liked to refer to it, hell on earth. But it seemed that relationships were all about compromise and more specifically Arthur compromising.

Merlin had stopped working and now they were just waiting for the baby to pop out. Which seemed to take forever according to Arthur’s uneducated mind no matter how many knowledge his smart doctor boyfriend tried to teach him.

*

But in the end, there she was. Her name was Emily Ygraine Pendragon-Emrys. And she was perfect with lots of untamable black hair. Uther gave his son a bear hug when he heard his granddaughter had been named after his beloved wife. Morgana told Arthur that she didn’t completely hate him and also hugged him. Of course, they immediately swore to never mention that hug again. Merlin’s mother was over the moon and vowed to visit her grandchildren more often.

Ollie defied his parent’s expectations and immediately became the most devoted big brother a girl could dream of. Once Emily started talking, the fighting would probably begin, but for now it was lovely.

Gwen added to the good news parade when she announced that she was also pregnant, it seemed that Lance had finally made his choice. Morgana and Gwaine ended up being a disaster but neither of them were likely to follow conventions.

It took Merlin and Arthur a while to get used to their new life, but all’s well that ends well.

 

(Until Percy and Elena decided to tie the knot, Morgana was once again in charge of the alcohol and Merlin ended up telling his husband that he needed to have a procedure to cut off his supply of super sperm. His name was Alexander Pendragon-Emrys and he was perfect.)

 

THE END


End file.
